7.62 x 39 Hunting Ammo ??

[rayjay]

You guys with the lifetime supply of FMJ ammo should consider buying a collet bullet puller so you can pull the bullet and then seat in a hunting bullet. Then you could try any .311 expanding bullet you want.

 

[rayjay]

Bullet performance would probably be a lot better if we could sauce it up to about 26-2700 FPS ?.

The 7.62x39 is the parent cartridge of the most popular round used in Bench Rest competition. The Russians necked the case down to 22cal for use in international shooting sports, 220 Russian. A couple of Americans took this case and necked it up to 6mm and blew out the should making the 6mmPPC [ both their last names started with the letter P ]. Many years later somebody necked it up to 30 cal for use in score events, 30 PPC. The cartridge will shoot a 115 gr bullet in the 3000 + range.

So it should be easily possible to hot rod the 7.62x39 into the 2600 2700 range without excess pressure although whether any semi auto action will allow this is the important question.

 

[Bobby Bigtime]

The 7.62x39 is the parent cartridge of the most popular round used in Bench Rest competition. The Russians necked the case down to 22cal for use in international shooting sports, 220 Russian. A couple of Americans took this case and necked it up to 6mm and blew out the should making the 6mmPPC [ both their last names started with the letter P ]. Many years later somebody necked it up to 30 cal for use in score events, 30 PPC. The cartridge will shoot a 115 gr bullet in the 3000 + range.

So it should be easily possible to hot rod the 7.62x39 into the 2600 2700 range without excess pressure although whether any semi auto action will allow this is the important question.

No doubt the 7.62x39 could be enhanced in a strong bolt action rifle .where the cartridge really shines is in the economy realm. The little round is cheap to shoot and the velocity of 2300-2400 fps works well inside practical ranges for hunting. Cartridges are what they are ,no need to turn them into something they aren't. Pulling the bullets and restuffing the cases with better bullets is a notable option, but like I say the round is economical, even hunting rounds.

 

[transfixer]

If I went to the trouble of pulling bullets then I would end up dumping that powder and using something else, don't know what they use over in Europe, but it usually burns pretty dirty, if I can get my 7,62 AR to the accuracy level I want, I will be more concerned about bullet placement than which bullet I'm using anyway .

 

[Bobby Bigtime]

I would like to add that ak and sks rifles are hit and miss as far as accuracy goes. I have seen some that are shooters and some that are not accurate enough to ethically hunt with. We are fortunate enough to have polytech legends that shoot about an inch and a half. They are the first choice of the wife and daughters for range time and hunting. The beauty of the cartridge is you can practice with cheap ammo and upgrade to the better stuff for hunting. I know very few folks myself that hand load this cartridge. I'm with transfixer on the powders in some of this ammo it is dirty.

 

[transfixer]

I would like to add that ak and sks rifles are hit and miss as far as accuracy goes. I have seen some that are shooters and some that are not accurate enough to ethically hunt with. We are fortunate enough to have polytech legends that shoot about an inch and a half. They are the first choice of the wife and daughters for range time and hunting. The beauty of the cartridge is you can practice with cheap ammo and upgrade to the better stuff for hunting. I know very few folks myself that hand load this cartridge. I'm with transfixer on the powders in some of this ammo it is dirty.

I reload most of my ammo, but with the price of the European stuff, and the fact as you stated, most AK's and sks's aren't capable of good accuracy, reloading would not be much of a benefit. Now with my AR I just put together I " might " try reloading for it,, but if it will shoot acceptable with some of the various ammo I have I doubt it. My AK shoots about a 4 or 5 inch group at 100yds, good enough for what it was designed for, but not for hunting, I have a paratrooper sks that will get into the 3in group range if I do my part, but still, thats not precise enough for me.

 

[Bobby Bigtime]

Many years ago at a gun show I picked up some European 7.62 x39 that had a weird mustard colored laquered case and fmj bullets. The boxes were heavily waxed. The guy had a dozen boxes at 4.00 per box. When I asked him what kind of ammo it was ,he told me it was the good stuff. Those 12 boxes are long gone now and I have never seen that breed of ammo again ever. It burned cleaner than anything and was the most accurate of any I have ever tried. I was told later it was Finnish but I can't verify that. I would love to see that stuff available again.

 

[rayjay]

I had a Yugo SKS with a bore that looked like corrosive ammo was used and not properly cleaned. I put some of the Tech Sights on it and the thing shot amazingly well. About 2" at 50 [ may have been 100, don't remember ]. For my eyes and irons I was amazed. this was with Wolf ammo and from a proper bench rest.

 

[transfixer]

I had a Yugo SKS with a bore that looked like corrosive ammo was used and not properly cleaned. I put some of the Tech Sights on it and the thing shot amazingly well. About 2" at 50 [ may have been 100, don't remember ]. For my eyes and irons I was amazed. this was with Wolf ammo and from a proper bench rest.

I've got the Tech sight rear sight on my 16in sks, that sight makes a world of difference in how accurate you can be with those rifles,

 

[rayjay]

There is also another newer BR cartridge called the 6mm [ and also 22 cal ] Beggs which is the 220 Russian necked up to 6mm and with the shoulder junctions sharpened up. By getting rid of the big radius transitions from body to shoulder to neck he stopped the brass from flowing forward. I would shot as well as the PPC but with less brass prep. I thought it would be neat to chamber an SKS for this round but loaded much lower than what we use in BR which would scare a normal person.

 

[rayjay]

I've got the Tech sight rear sight on my 16in sks, that sight makes a world of difference in how accurate you can be with those rifles,

The last time I shot a gun with standard open sights was my BB gun and I hit the hummingbird feeder and got a whipping. I still can't sit down.

 

[rayjay]

I don't have a 7.62x39 anymore but I do have a 6.8 SPC which is the same mold of midrange power. An x39 case necked down to .277 would be about identical in performance. My 6.8 is on a Savage SS action.

 

[Buck70]

Has anybody killed a deer or bear with the hollow point ammo?

 

[Railroader]

Has anybody killed a deer or bear with the hollow point ammo?

Shot a hog one time with SKS and a hollow point....30 caliber hole, straight thru the ribcage at about 50 yds.

Dead hog, after a short run/stagger thru the palmettos.

Might as well have been an FMJ.

Haven't fired another one at a critter.

I've had good results with both 123, and 154gr cheapo soft points on a few deer.

I have a Ruger M77 compact that shoots em pretty good, and a little CZ that shoots em really well.

Good woods guns for when WW3 starts...lol

 

[Bobby Bigtime]

The hollow points do work but are not optimal the old commercial Russian stuff from about 20 years ago was about the best of the hollow points. They seem to fragment pretty bad on deer even with good placement. Like railroader said the 154 grain works fairly well in our experience. The old norinco copper washed soft points are solid as well.

 

[sleepr71]

Thanks for all the info guys! Had no idea the x39 had been Wildcatted & used in Benchrest comp? Ray jay... I like that idea of pulling and replacing the projectiles. I might look into that. One thing that all SKS’s need for sure is a trigger job… To get rid of some of the creep + pull wt. I think Mcarbo has a spring kit now that cuts the pull weight down to about 3 pounds. I put a cheap scope + did a trigger job(myself) on one a few years back & it would keep around a 2-3” Group at 100yds with fmj ammo.

 

[Bowyer29]

Probably not enough velocity (7.62 x 39) to make the Copper bullets open up.? They NEED velocity to perform,so I Doubt we will ever see a monolithic in this caliber,due to that. I’d think something along the lines of a (Bonded)SP ..tweaked to work at 1800-2400 FPS would be ideal?

Look up Cavity Back Bullets.

 

[Robust Redhorse]

I'd use 125g Remington Core-Lokts and call it done, if you can shoot a 6" group at 100 yards.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I would like to add that ak and sks rifles are hit and miss as far as accuracy goes. I have seen some that are shooters and some that are not accurate enough to ethically hunt with. We are fortunate enough to have polytech legends that shoot about an inch and a half. They are the first choice of the wife and daughters for range time and hunting. The beauty of the cartridge is you can practice with cheap ammo and upgrade to the better stuff for hunting. I know very few folks myself that hand load this cartridge. I'm with transfixer on the powders in some of this ammo it is dirty.

My 7.62x39 AR by PSA with a cold hammer-forged FN barrel stacks them in pretty good at 100 with good ammo.